A Study in Romance: Settling Down
by Broken Orbit
Summary: My first specific foray into the romance genre, involving the retired Commander Jennifer Shepard and Liara T'soni (wedded) making a new life together after the Reaper War. This short one-shot is related with the universe of A Leader to All, but not necessarily contiguous with it. Rated T for referencing gestation.
**Author's Note:** This story was made for a writing challenge in my peer group- to create, within only 1,500 words (quite difficult for me to do), a romance piece that was structured in the form of a multiple-narrative story, in that it had multiple parts from different perspectives used to tell one tale. It should be said that I am not very versed in romance literature (although writing in this way was better than the alternative: writing about _comedy_ ), and so I was quite nervous to present it. My peers loved it, though, and so I decided that- as it was related quite closely with my current FanFiction story, _A Leader to All_ \- I would post it here.

Take note that there is some historical exposition within the third section (added mainly for the benefit of my peers) that heavily relates to events within the ALTA universe- not all of which have happened, or at least have been shown. As time goes on with that story, it may be that things change in a manner to invalidate said exposition. In fact, the galaxy might not even win against the Reapers- making this whole thing impossible. Regardless, it should be recognized that this piece is not necessarily fully in-line with events, past, present and future, within _A Leader to All._

With that out of the way, I hope that you enjoy reading this. If you like it or have any sort of criticisms (constructive or otherwise), please tell me by way of a Review. I always appreciate feedback!

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 **Multiple Narrative Story Attempt #1: "Settling Down"**

Part One:

It was 2188 when the house was made: A large, classy two-story affair looking over a downward slope and a wide plain that filled with bluebonnets in the springtime. The Wichita Mountains were, indeed, a nice place to live. The weather was close enough to that of northeast Texas for Jennifer's liking, although the isolation was more to Liara's preference. Truly, they were not so distant from civilization as to make things inconvenient; but the area was open and sparsely populated. An Alliance orbital defense installation was the biggest thing around, situated at the land's highest point just a dozen kilometers away. Or, at least, it used to be. The Reapers had destroyed it during the war, just as they had done to most things such as it, but the land had healed since then. The nearby towns remained just as they were for decades past: small and tidy, with nice people but poor finances. Things were sure to change, soon, though, as civilization rebuilt and industry boomed near the equator. Hopefully, their home was far enough away for things to stay quiet.

Part Two:

Liara watched as her wife put saw to wood, cutting into what would eventually become a crib for their children. She wanted to help, but Jennifer had denied her emphatically and bade her rest. After all, what business did a pregnant woman have with manual labor? Just as with the gardens and the security systems set up outside, the conversion of their adjacent bedroom into one for their coming twins was a task that her wife preferred to take on alone. She had been working at it for days, now, taking out all of the furniture bit by bit and storing it in their basement for safekeeping. The belongings that Garrus and Tali had left there for their visits were removed as well, but as they were still deciding on where to put them they remained crated in the living room. The entire house was changing for their- Jennifer's- most recent effort. To think that there were only a few months left! So little time- Liara almost felt unready, despite her body saying otherwise.

After the asari obstetrician had confirmed that a second embryo was developing in Liara's womb, everything had changed. They couldn't follow the same plan as before, what with being able to give a single daughter the concentrated dynastic upbringing that Liara had experienced. Regardless, they had no access to the enormous resources that the T'Soni family had once commanded- they'd determined that as soon as Liara decided to settle on Earth. The investments, influence, and- to an extent- the money were still there, but Matriarch Aethyta functionally controlled the rest. There was no struggle to be had with Liara's father, but the separation still affected how stable they would be able to make their daughters' development. Jennifer already knew how her shorter lifespan would direct things, later on.

Long before that came to matter, though, they were building their home together for the second time in almost a year and a half. In the coming days, Liara could start painting the walls- so long as she wore a respirator, that was, and the rest of the house was well ventilated for when she wasn't. The crib would come next, once Jennifer was done with the finishing touches, and then they would put in and arrange the furniture that they had ordered. Jennifer still had to learn more about asari cooking, and her wife about doing so for infants. With any luck, they still had a month or so before Liara would have to go into bed rest- plenty of time, considering that they would be doing so at home. The obstetrician had already made arrangements to move into one of the guest bedrooms downstairs, and both Tali and Ashley were offering to come over and help take care of things. Regardless of what happened in the near future, it seemed to be well set and would surely work out better than any worried vision. In the meantime, there were the smaller things to concentrate on- the crib's construction; the colors chosen; all of the individual labors that would lead up to build the environment of their children's lives to come.

It was a fantastic life to be living, Liara decided- and she had chosen just the right person to live it with.

Part Three:

The picture had been taken on Earth, shortly after the war had been won; during the period where medals were being handed out like candy and everyone was proud simply to be alive. The context of the picture- more portrait- showed that openly, for every one of the hundred-and-twelve men and women in the frame had some sort of award displayed upon them. Standing at the head of the group, then-Commander Shepard was naturally by far the most decorated- her freshly received medals and honors gleaming in the midday sun. Liara was stood beside her, their arms hooked. The whole setting evoked memories of a recent, but very different, past- of fanfare and celebration; an end to a nightmare that had continued for millions of years and finally ended with them. Everyone on the Normandy had certainly done their part, and even though Jennifer felt it was undeserved, they had become legends for it.

There were many faces missing from the picture, though. Faces that had been there from the first launch in '86 , or even before then, but had perished at some point along the way- never to make it into that last, victorious display; to know that the war was over and they had paid the price to allow it. Such was life.

Jennifer was no stranger to loss. She had lost her entire family in 2170, as Batarian raiders burned Mindoir to the ground. A period of recovery was marked by her joining the Alliance, an effort to fight back that eventually got her what she wished for. Her platoon experienced its own casualties, but only a few deaths until '77- when a bunch of dumb worms the size of highway haulers did what cold-blooded slavers never could. She lost just about everyone she knew, that day. Again. Understandably, the Navy offered her an honorable discharge and some extra pay to keep her afloat if she left. She refused, and the promotion allowed her to go to ICTS and undergo one of the hardest but most fulfilling experiences of her life. Her perseverance earned her command of a whole Navy Special Applications Group, where she oversaw the hardest fighting she'd ever been in up to that point. More men died, although they were few. Her people were simply too good at what they did for the Reaper to get many of them. Eventually, though, after three more years and a command transfer, the _real_ Reapers showed up- and they brought with them a world of pain.

In '83, several personal friends from the Normandy were killed during the effort to stop Saren from letting the Reapers in through the Citadel Relay. Then, when the Normandy was destroyed the same year, over twenty men and women were sucked out of the CIC into hard vacuum. Jennifer actually, definitively _died_ during the attack, but Cerberus brought her back two years later to keep up the fight. Since then, that was all she had done. Her ship changed affiliations, and so did she. Eventually, though, after all she went through and survived, the war ended. On one hand, it was the most profound victory that had occurred in the galaxy's entire history. On the other, it was the most profound absence that had occurred in her lifetime.

For nearly half of her living years, Jennifer had been fighting to do _something._ First, to avenge her family and to prevent others from suffering her same fate. Then, to protect not only humanity, but every living, breathing thing in the galaxy that had the barest will to stay that way. Those periods had brought her the most pain and suffering from any point in her life, but also the greatest amount of exposure to the wide world beyond her own nose- to people and places; concepts and realities; to comradeship and to unswervingly loyal friends. And not only that, but it had brought her into a relationship with the love of her life- something with gravity that she could never have imagined, but had nonetheless had changed her whole existence.

As Jennifer Annette Shepard stared into the tiny bundle of cloth and warm, blue skin in her arms, all of her past hurt and hardships seemed to slowly melt away. This small creature made everything worth it; injuries, both physical and mental- the things that crawled from the deepest depths of the past to torment her; those that bit and tore at her every hour of every day. It made all of it worth it- every last bit. There was nowhere in the galaxy that she would rather be than there in that room. There, holding her bondmate's hand as they, together, cherished their newborn future.

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 **Author's Note II:** My ALTA readers should know that I will soon be coming out with an in-depth prequel piece centered around the events of Akuze. I am, at the moment, unclear as to whether it shall develop into multiple parts or not. It likely will, considering my current desire to have an "aftermath" sort of section, but things could change. I might even add it in before publishing, although I doubt this (the story is already very long, in and of itself).

You should look forward to seeing it before the end of Spring Break, which I am currently experiencing. In the meantime, have fun!


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